Monthly Archives: December 2014

For most of you, a trip to the gun shop is like a child’s trip to Disney; You don’t ever want to leave. With these trips come unwritten rules of how to conduct yourself while browsing the fine selection of firearms and accessories. Remember that each employee at the shop speaks with many people a day, a lot of whom are new to firearms. Knowing and abiding by these unwritten rules will ensure a smooth, safe and respectful transaction.

1. Look at one firearm at a time

I have been in a gun shop multiple times and witnessed a customer doing the following: “Let me look at that one, that one right there, this one over here, oh and definitely that one!” While it may be beneficial to compare them side by side, it is recommended to have just one on the counter at any given time.

2. Never cover anyone with the muzzle

As per the 4 Rules of Gun Safety, the gun is always loaded. Being in a gun shop does not make this rule any less irrelevant. When handling any firearm ANYWHERE, never let the muzzle cover anything you aren’t willing to destroy.

3. Don’t dry fire or ‘slam’ the slide without asking

I know you want to play with your potential purchase, believe me I understand! 9 times out of 10, if you want to dry fire or release the slide with the slide release, the employee will say ‘go ahead’. It’s always a good idea to ask first though, because after all, it’s their property until they sell it to you. You may also be unaware that dry-firing the firearm in your hand is actually bad for that particular firearm. Please, ask first.

4. If you’re trading in a gun, bring it in it’s case

Instead of walking up to the counter with a firearm in your hands, put it in it’s case and let the employee take it out and safety check it. This seems like common sense to me, but I’ve seen it done the other way numerous times. We’re dealing with firearms here, not jeans you’re looking to return at Wally World.

5. Always, without exception, safety check a firearm as soon as you pick it up

I don’t care if the employee just showed you it’s clear. As soon as you pick up a firearm ANYWHERE, the first thing you should be doing is a safety check. This policy does not change in a gun shop.

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6. Know about the firearms you’re interested in purchasing

Do some research online before you go to the gun shop. You probably have an idea of what you’re looking to get, so check them out before you go see them. Even the best employee may not know all the answers to every single product they carry. It’s a good idea to be informed ahead of time to make sure you know exactly what you’re looking at.

7. Have your permit with you

If you’re in a state that requires you to have a permit to own a firearm, HAVE IT WITH YOU. Chances are, the gun shop can’t even let you touch a firearm without seeing your permit. Do everyone a favor and bring it with you and present it at the counter.

8. Haggling is generally ok, but don’t go overboard

If you find a firearm on BudsGunShop.com for $500 and your dealer is selling it for $589, asking for a few bucks off isn’t a bad idea. Asking them to price match however, might not be your best option. Remember that the online purchase may have other fees such as shipping, and they generally don’t have as much overhead as your dealer. He needs to keep his doors open, so haggle respectively.

9. Don’t talk about anything illegal

I’m not even going to explain this. Just…don’t do it.

10. Be respectful and courteous

Gun Shop employees see a lot of people everyday, and many are new to firearms and don’t follow the rules. I hear of ‘angry’ employees all the time, and my feeling is that they come across this way sometimes because they have people all day long doing everything on this list. Give them a break by knowing the proper Gun Shop Etiquette.

Let’s examine what Ayoob teaches about the circumstances that justify the use of deadly force:

As civilians our only obligation and right is to keep ourselves and our families from being unlawfully injured or killed. We may only use equal force in response to the application of force against us. If we are not innocent of provoking a confrontation, or we are not being immediately threatened with deadly force, we cannot use deadly force in response. This is unlike the obligation of a sworn police officer who may use necessary force to fulfill his or her duties, such as seeking out and arresting malefactors.

Ayoob teaches a formula for determining the circumstances under which we would be justified in employing deadly force. The formula is both simple and yet complex. Deadly force is justified when you are confronted with “an immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm” to either yourself or other innocents, whose innocence and situation you are totally certain about. You can’t intervene with deadly force in a situation you come upon without knowing what’s really happening. Don’t make assumptions based on what seems to be happening. The danger must be clear and present, immediate and unavoidable. This formula is based on English Common Law and Dutch/Roman Law, and it applies in all fifty states. It is determined by three criteria which can be remembered by the acronym A.O.J. Think “Administration Of Justice”. The situation must meet all three criteria.

A = Ability. The person deemed to be a threat must possess the ability or power to kill or maim.

O = Opportunity. The person deemed to be a threat must be capable of immediately employing his power to kill or maim.

J = Jeopardy. This means that the person deemed to be a threat must be acting in such a manner that a reasonable and prudent person would conclude beyond doubt that his intent is to kill or cripple.

All of the above are judged by the doctrine of the “reasonable man”. That is, what would a reasonable and prudent person have done in that situation knowing what the defendant knew at the time? After the fact information is inadmissible into the equation. Your defense of self-defense is affirmative if you knew all of the above at the time you employed deadly force.

HOW TO BUY A CHILD’S FIRST SHOTGUN

I hope that you have not forgotten what it was like to be a 10-year-old kid on Christmas morning. Now add to that you are a kid in a hunting and shooting family. You have been wishing, hoping, and praying that you will see that new gun under the tree. Can you remember this? Think of Ralphie in A Christmas Story. A lot of our hunting traditions are going by the wayside; I hope that this one has not. I think it does a kid good to hope for the present he or she desires with all their little heart. Hopefully Mom and Dad are on the same wave length, and agree that they are ready for this firearm, and so that long, slender package will be there on Christmas morn. This now leaves Dad and/or Mom to make the right choice and buy our little guy or girl the right shotgun. Get ready for a lecture.

IF YOU GREW UP LIKE I DID, “back in the day,” most kids got whatever shotgun that was handy shoved in their hands, and were basically told to shoot it and don’t complain. Often the young
shooter was laughed at after some old blunderbuss knocked them for a loop after they pulled the trigger. Now let’s see, you give a kid a shotgun that doesn’t fit, it is too big and too heavy, the recoil of which could make a grown man cry. Do we see a problem here? Friends, bad shooting habits can follow us for a lifetime; sometimes it is not our fault. The kid who was forced to shoot Uncle Bill’s Model 97 will never forget that it kicked like the proverbial mule.

He developed a flinch that day, which may very well follow him to the grave. I recently attended Remington’s new products seminar near Fayetteville, W.V. I felt privileged to be there, as the list of people attending consisted of most of the heavy hitters in the outdoor media and shooting industry world. But I will tell you this: on the shotgun range (where Remington was unveiling a brand-new shotgun for 2015), I saw people who I think of as better shotgun shooters than me reveal some bad flinches. You’ve seen it; while using a gun that you are unfamiliar with, you call “pull,” and the bird goes up but the safety is on. You yank the trigger; the barrel akes a big dip downward. Now where might that flinch have come from?

I HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE about working with young people at various shooting functions: National Wild Turkey Federation Jakes Days, Youth Day at the Range and the like. Watch the kid who picks up an ill-fitting shotgun that s too big and heavy for him/her. Most will lean back and heave the gun to their shoulder, usually snagging the stock under their arm because it is too long or them. A gun that fits them allows the young shooter to stand straight and push the gun towards the target as they shoulder it, like we are supposed to do.

Think about this: It is important to get a shotgun that fits your son or daughter now, not one that they “will grow into.” While you are waiting for them to grow into this gun, how many bad days in the field will they have and how many bad habits will they acquire because of a shotgun that is too big and heavy for them?

I want you to consider the pump shotgun for a child’s first gun rather than the auto loader. Now, I do not think there is anything wrong with the auto loader, but pump guns are generally lighter than autos and are easy for small hands to operate. They are safer to operate when it comes to loading more than one shell, and they are usually less expensive. So I am going to offer you a couple of choices that you can consider for the young shooter’s first shotgun.

The first is Remington’s Model 870 Compact Jr. Most youth model shotguns feature a 13-inch length of pull. The 870 Compact Jr. has a 12-inch length of pull, to better fit the smaller shooter, and this feature is adjustable so it can be increased as the shooter grows. All this and the reliability of the Remington 870: can over 10 million, 870 owners be wrong?

Next is the Mossberg 500 Bantam All Purpose. This gun starts with a 13-inch length of pull, however, the Super Bantam model gives you a 12- to 13-inch adjustable stock, and multiple barrel lengths are available. Other options include 12, 20 and .410 bore. I would go for the 20 gauge; don’t start them with a .410. I realize that it may have been your first shotgun, as was mine. Don’t forget lightly loaded shells for the starting shotgunner are just as
important as a gun that fits properly. Let them practice and shoot on paper with target loads; if you are going to turkey hunt, save the heavy stuff for the woods. Remington offers their Managed Recoil STS Target Loads; shell out another dollar or two for a box
of shells that the kid can enjoy shooting. Get that kid a shotgun for Christmas! Not just any shotgun, but one that fits them. Both of you will be glad you did. WSJ

Let’s examine what Ayoob teaches about the circumstances that justify the use of deadly force:

As civilians our only obligation and right is to keep ourselves and our families from being unlawfully injured or killed. We may only use equal force in response to the application of force against us. If we are not innocent of provoking a confrontation, or we are not being immediately threatened with deadly force, we cannot use deadly force in response. This is unlike the obligation of a sworn police officer who may use necessary force to fulfill his or her duties, such as seeking out and arresting malefactors.

Ayoob teaches a formula for determining the circumstances under which we would be justified in employing deadly force. The formula is both simple and yet complex. Deadly force is justified when you are confronted with “an immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm” to either yourself or other innocents, whose innocence and situation you are totally certain about. You can’t intervene with deadly force in a situation you come upon without knowing what’s really happening. Don’t make assumptions based on what seems to be happening. The danger must be clear and present, immediate and unavoidable. This formula is based on English Common Law and Dutch/Roman Law, and it applies in all fifty states. It is determined by three criteria which can be remembered by the acronym A.O.J. Think “Administration Of Justice”. The situation must meet all three criteria.

A = Ability. The person deemed to be a threat must possess the ability or power to kill or maim.

O = Opportunity. The person deemed to be a threat must be capable of immediately employing his power to kill or maim.

J = Jeopardy. This means that the person deemed to be a threat must be acting in such a manner that a reasonable and prudent person would conclude beyond doubt that his intent is to kill or cripple.

All of the above are judged by the doctrine of the “reasonable man”. That is, what would a reasonable and prudent person have done in that situation knowing what the defendant knew at the time? After the fact information is inadmissible into the equation. Your defense of self-defense is affirmative if you knew all of the above at the time you employed deadly force.

A writer from Gun Digest contacted me about the Five Year Armed Citizen study TAC 5 year w tables I did a while back. He asked if I would give him a quote about it, so this was my reply.

“Analyzing incidents involving Armed Private Citizens, rather than LE/MIL situations, leads to different conclusions. Common discussion topics among Armed Private Citizens, such as equipment and caliber issues, rarely are the cause of Negative Outcomes. Negative Outcomes result from 1) lack of conceptual understanding leading to poor decision-making, and 2) lack of appropriate and necessary skills, techniques, and tactics.

Carrying and being capable of using a small gun adequately will yield much better results than owning a large pistol that isn’t carried or shot well. More criminals have been planted in the ground by .22s that hit than by .45s that miss.”